Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: D/ST

What Week 4 was to the spot matchups, Week 5 is to the powerhouses. With only 28 NFL teams playing games thanks to bye weeks, the top matchups come from defenses with muscle -- the ones that got snapped up on draft day as opposed to this past Wednesday.

The miles-ahead leader for the No. 1 spot in this week's defensive unit rankings goes to the New York Giants, who face the hapless Raiders at home. Somehow, the Raiders have managed to get progressively worse on offense over the course of the first four games after a fine start on Monday Night Football in Week 1. Now, to make matters worse, they will play without their star running back (ha, in college maybe), Darren McFadden. Frankly, JaMarcus Russell needs to come up with some semblance of an offense soon or he'll be calling Lenny Dykstra for a job. Needless to say, if the Raiders score more than six points, this should be considered a minor miracle.

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The other big plays this week look remarkably similar to that of the Giants, in that dominating defenses face some of the league's worst offenses. The Vikings' pass rush should bamboozle the Rams' lousy passing offense. While Steven Jackson should have a heck of a workout, they will likely be playing from way behind, so the ground game will fade after a couple quarters. Furthermore, the Steelers face the improving but still bad Detroit Lions, and the Eagles get to tee off on the fluctuating Tampa Bay offense.

Finally, for anyone looking for a spot play, go with the Buffalo Bills. They have a very favorable play at home against the patchwork Cleveland offense. This should provide a more accurate representation of what we can expect from newbies like Jerome Harrison and Mohamed Massaquoi.

1. Giants, NYG vs. OAK
2. Vikings, MIN @ STL
3. Steelers, PIT @ DET
4. Eagles, PHI vs. TB
5. Bills, BUF vs. CLE
6. Ravens, BAL vs. CIN
7. Jets, NYJ @ MIA
8. Cowboys, DAL @ KC
9. Redskins, WAS @ CAR
10. 49ers, SF vs. ATL
11. Dolphins, MIA vs. NYJ
12. Falcons, ATL @ SF
13. Broncos, DEN vs. NE
14. Cardinals, ARI vs. HOU
15. Patriots, NE @ DEN
16. Texans, HOU @ ARI
17. Bengals, CIN @ BAL
18. Rams, STL vs. MIN
19. Panthers, CAR vs. WAS
20. Seahawks, SEA vs. JAX
21.Browns, CLE @ BUF
22. Colts, IND @ TEN
23. Lions, DET vs. PIT
24. Jaguars, JAX @ SEA
25. Chiefs, KC vs. DAL
26. Buccaneers, TB @ PHI
27. Titans, TEN vs. IND
28. Raiders, OAK @ NYG

• With regard to the surging 49ers, the Falcons provide a tough matchup as Michael Turner and Tony Gonzalez should set the tone with a more pedestrian hard-nosed football game and take them out of attack mode. I would not bank on another huge fantasy day akin to last week.

• Keep an eye on the Broncos -- we've been toting them as an every-week starter as of late around here and this will be a good game to test that hypothesis. Tom Brady and company, despite a less-than-stellar start to 2009, should never be taken lightly on offense.

• One caveat in choosing the Raiders for dead last: I'm assuming Eli Manning will play this weekend. While it looks doubtful now, it is possible to play through this injury and he could likely feel good enough by game time. However, I wouldn't expect to see him practice much, if at all, this week.